Doctoral Program in Chemistry

The Department of Chemistry at Brooklyn College is considered among the most dynamic and diverse in the City University of New York. Its fourteen faculty members (40 percent women) are actively engaged in research in the fields of analytical, inorganic, organic, physical, and theoretical chemistry, and biochemistry. Many faculty hold membership on the CUNY doctoral faculties of both the Chemistry and Biochemistry departments.

Research
Faculty members are working in a wide range of fields, many crossing the boundaries of traditional academic disciplines. Of current interest are challenges in biomedical research, in catalysis and new materials, and in spectroscopy applied to biological systems. Current faculty projects include research on drug design (including metal based), drug resistance studies, work on organic and inorganic catalysis, studies of ionic liquids, investigations of chemical sensors, laser studies of biological systems, green chemistry, and theoretical interpretation of Raman spectroscopy of biological systems, among others. Chemistry faculty members currently have more than $5.2m in total grants from various institutes at the National Institutes of Health, the Petroleum Research Fund, and the American Heart Association. See the list of faculty for brief summaries of current research interests.

Research Resources and Equipment
Brooklyn College is regarded as one of the most technologically advanced campuses in the CUNY system. High-power computing facilities are available in the department, as well as throughout the academic facilities, and CUNY has shared, high-performance computing resources available to faculty and graduate students. There is shared-use access to facilities in other science departments and in core research facilities in aquatic research and in environmental testing and analysis. The recently refurbished and expanded Brooklyn College Library houses more than 1.3 million print volumes and provides access to more than 40,000 electronic books and more than 28,000 electronic journals. Access to all 20 CUNY library collections is available through interlibrary loan.

The doctoral program in the Department of Chemistry runs within a center of excellence in science education and research serving in the heart of the borough of Brooklyn for more than 75 years. Ph.D. students conduct thesis research with a faculty mentor in the research areas outlined above, and also gain experience as teaching assistants. Research laboratory space exceeds 50,000 square feet in a five-story science building, and planning is under way for a completely new science facility for education and research. A broad range of state-of-the-art research instrumentation can be found by clicking here.

The Brooklyn College Doctoral Program in Chemistry
The doctoral specializations in chemistry available at Brooklyn College include analytical, inorganic, organic, physical/theoretical, and biochemistry, through the CUNY Graduate Center's Ph.D. Program in Chemistry.

Chemistry and biochemistry doctoral students work closely with the faculty in pursuing their research interests. Thesis research in a variety of specialties is mentored in a student-friendly environment, housing state-of-the-art equipment for measurement, analysis and computation. A low student/faculty ratio means that faculty are highly available and supportive.

The research faculty of chemistry understands that students are concerned about their careers after the doctoral degree. To ensure our doctoral students are competitive after they obtain their degrees, Brooklyn College offers students free professional development workshops in such areas as science teaching, grant writing, laboratory management, effective scientific communication, writing in the sciences, building a competitive curriculum vita, and searching for academic, industrial, and research jobs. Faculty commitment to chemistry doctoral students is not complete when they file their dissertations; the faculty continues to provide a supportive professional mentoring network to chemistry doctoral students as they advance in their careers.